Words, Weather and Predators

I woke in the middle of the night, sat up for a sip of water and, all of a sudden, felt the bed shaking. It was as though a large agile beast had thumped down from a high perch and was now thundering across the Serengeti of our bed after prey.

I turned in time to witness a not quite giant panther leap, with graceful, guided missile intent, over The Amazing Bob and slither/stalk up his full nearly six and a half foot length. The beast was headed my way.

Yeah, it was Rocco and he was after pats and chin skriches. He got them. Of course.

Space, sensations and time seem to expand in the middle of the night.
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As storms once again battered the state of Alabama over Christmas, Republican Gov. Robert Bentley moved to divert funding from the 2010 BP oil spill recovery effort to finance the renovation of a second Governor’s mansion on the Gulf Coast.
~~snip~~
While Alabama’s oyster industry and coastal communities continue to suffer from the effects of the massive Deepwater Horizon oil well blowout, the repairs to the governors’ mansion are estimated to cost between $1.5 million and $1.8 million. Though Bentley says he will stay there only “on occasion,” the administration said the property would be “primarily” used to wine and dine corporate executives considering the state for investment.

Priorities.
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The MOST adorb Olivia

 I woke with a Christmas Carol playing on my internal sound system. Yes, if you know me at all well, this was a little nasty.

O Come All Ye Faithful
Joyful and triumphant,
O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem.
Come and behold Him,
Born the King of Angels;
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord.

Not a bad tune as these things go but I got stuck on the word adore. I think of it more as a term that gushing fashionistas use to describe an…em…adorable pair of shoes or a cute, MUST have dress. Or it's an adjective, adorable, for a toddler—Isn’t Olivia adorable! (yes, yes she is)
From dictionary.com:
Adore
verb (used with object), adored, adoring.
1. to regard with the utmost esteem, love, and respect; honor.
2. to pay divine honor to; worship: to adore God.
3. to like or admire very much: I simply adore the way your hair is done!
Adorable
adjective
1. very attractive or delightful; charming: What an adorable hat!
But this is how I think of/hear the word now—from the Urban dictionary:
Adorbs
A common way of abbreviating "adorable". Aw, Shannon and Andrew look totes adorbs together!
AND the venerable Oxford dictionary online:
adjective, informal
Inspiring great delight; cute or adorable: newborn babies are so adorb

O come, let us adorb Him? Ah, no.
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Yesterday it was warmer here in coastal Massachusetts than in seaside Northern Cal. Here in Valhalla, it was 61º. A friend in San Jose wrote that it was 45º and he went ice skating. Today though, they’ll hit 51º while we hover in the low 30s with snow in the forecast.

Yeah, I’m thinking our weather could use a wee injection of Haldol.

And on that note:

With many Republican candidates saying they do not believe that climate change is a threat or requires government intervention, Mrs. Clinton assailed their logic, saying, “The reality of climate change is unforgiving no matter what the deniers say.”

She set a goal to produce 33 percent of the nation’s electricity from renewable sources by 2027, up from 7 percent today — a higher goal than the 20 percent that President Obama has called for by 2030.

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Does today really count as Monday given that it’s Christmas week?

What’s that you say? Jen is due in to work at 8 AM? Oh. Yes, I guess it is Monday. The question now is this, will I brave the high winds and cold temps? Will I mount my trusty steed and ride? Yeah, probably.